9. Herman the friendship cake

Now if you've been reading the London Metro or The Guardian, then you may have heard about this current trend that seems to have appeared (apparently it has been going for ages, but has suddenly grown in popularity).


Herman, is a German friendship cake.  Working on similar principles to the evil chain letter popularity of the 90s (but much more fun and tasty), you get passed some mix, add some stuff, split it in 4, give three away, add final ingredients, then cook.  


I was a bit sceptical originally, as I hated chain letters and wondered where the original mix came from : s However, my best mate convinced me and so my cake expedition started. 


Each day you mainly just stir Herman, as he is a sour dough cake (which sounds wrong but its not).  On certain days, you add ingredients to increase his size and then stir (literally takes a few minutes out of your day).


The whole process takes 10 days, however by day 9, you need to know who your passing him to.  I was very persuasive and had been told how good it was by my best mate (we like the same things, I trust her).  


Anyway, I gave away three parts of my Herman cake the other day and made mine.  He actually was a rather big cake, so we made two small loaves - which have gone down very well in my house.


He is a fruit cake, but he is the most moist fruitcake I've ever had and so much tastier than past ones I've made.


So if Herman happens to be offered to you, give it a try - in a time of recession, be happy, make cake and pass the tastiness on : )

 He's so yummy!

The article from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/nov/30/a-friendship-cake-called-herman

8. Cantonese tea for two

Anyone who likes clotted cream and scones has either probably had a cream tea somewhere or afternoon tea at some swanky place.  As a change, we went for Cantonese tea for two (which was part of my mum's birthday present) and we managed to get a great price via Groupon.

This was held at the Grand Imperial (part of the Grosvenor Hotel near Victoria station) and before we went we did not know what would be part of the deal.

To start with, we were asked what type of tea we wanted and then a large teapot with china cups came out (very posh).  After this, a cake stand appeared with 3 tiers of delightful goodies.  The top layer held 3 different starter esk type goodies containing pork, lobster and we think crayfish or prawn.  The middle tier had 2 duck and cucumber pieces on a prawn cracker and then 2 with an array of small diced veg.  To finish (on the bottom tier) was two egg tart pastries and 2 green tea mousses.  We were expected to eat most of this with chopsticks (which for pros like us is normally fine) but due to a few food accidents, we had a little bit of help from our hands and some spoons in the end : )

For me the starter and main tiers were my favourite - they had lots of choice of flavour and were all made differently.  The puddings weren't bad, but for once they didn't really work for me.

The experience overall was really good - great service, nice food and a relaxed atmosphere.

If you're intrigued, I would definitely try it, as I found it enjoyable and tried a few new things : )

7. Digital jobs fair

I have been to the odd really rubbish job fair in the past (mainly just because I have been curious) but due to the fact I am trying to steer my work in a new direction, I decided to go to a proper jobs fair for what I was looking for (I've had an interest in digital technology for awhile, but they didn't used to have careers fairs for it).  This particular one was run by Digital Shoreditch (which is actually running for over another week).

The thing I liked about this one was that it had been well organised.  There were people from various companies to chat to (but all within a circular area - we were in a big top tent - which also fits in with the creative side), a CV and Portfolio surgery done by good digital agencies, some workshops and free food and drink (which I think is important when people are there for a long time).

I was particularly interested in two stalls who I talked to staff at and was very impressed with (Entraprise and Unruly - the latter, even gave me a cupcake after chatting to me - 10 points : p).

I think if you are looking for digital work, you should definitely check them out.  I feel I have some leads now to follow and a little more direction than I felt before.

Go to digitalshoreditch.com to find out more.

6. Beginners course in Henna Tattooing

The aim original of this blog was to try new exciting courses and things I had never done, but it has been hard fitting this in around work etc.  However, I finally got to do one of the things I wanted to:  Henna Tattooing.

Went with a friend of mine to a local centre and did a two hour session.  In the session we had the chance to: look at images about the two main types of henna tattooing and what makes them different, learn how to hold the cones of henna and get used to the tension you need to produce to get the right flow, practised basic lines and shapes and finally created some flowers and leaves with shading.

It's great to learn because you be creative with it and either follow traditional styles (Indian and Arabic) or create your own images.  I wouldn't say I had a natural knack for it, but enjoyed doing it : )  It's also good for trying out designs that you might want done as a normal tattoo, as it is not permanent.

The session was really interesting and made me want to buy some henna and try it on myself.  When a suitable time arises, I will buy some to put on myself for an event : )

Course taken with:  http://twitter.com/#!/tibatraining

5. Wearing and applying shatter nail varnish

I didn't really used to wear nail varnish as I grew up.  I had random colours I had bought at different points, but my mum didn't like me tarting myself up (especially as I always looked older for my age was I was younger).

A reasonably new craze in nail varnish has been shatter nail varnish polish.  You basically put on a base coat, then one or two layers of your favourite colour and then put a fourth layer of shatter proof varnish on top.  This final layer cracks as it sets, letting the other colour show underneath.

I wasn't expecting my trial to be successful when I originally tried it out for a hen-do, but I was presently surprised (should have known, Barry M make-up is pretty good).  It worked fast, efficiently and looked good.

Now I've done my nails again, this time in silver and black - I never knew I could be so trendy : )

4. Buying Princess Shoes

Does anyone remember this advert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUQCQ0LMsb8

Magic Shoes were a massive hit at the end of the 80s, every girl wanted them and most in the end owned them.  Unfortunately for me not only did my parents want me to wear sensible shoes (patent shoes got damaged easily and always had to be replaced) but they did not do these in a wide fitting, so I couldn't have them : (

I spent a lot of my time growing up not getting shoes I wanted because they were either not wide enough or not big enough (I was a size 6 by the time I went to secondary and have now been a size 8 for yonks).

As some of you will know from my other blog, shoes have become slightly more important in my life in recent years (they do nice ones in my size, I have more money than when I was a teen and my interests have changed).

Anywho, I was going to a wedding reception the other day and was originally looking for a nice new dress in TK Maxx, but couldn't find what I was looking for.  I went to have a quick look at the shoes and saw the most amazing glittery silver ones - picture below.

I decided not only because they fit, looked great and would go with my outfit, that I would buy them, but also to fulfil the dreams of my younger self, who never got those magic shoes she wanted (they are also rocket dogs, so quite comfy : p)

They are not red so I won't be saying "There's no place like home" at the end of a long night, but they have filled the void and made the 7 year old me very happy : )